Police suspect first bath salt case in Livermore Falls

LIVERMORE FALLS, Maine — Police here suspect they had their first run-in with bath salts Saturday afternoon when police responded to a report of a suspicious female on Main Street, near Motor Supply.

When officer Vern Stevens arrived, he found a 33-year-old woman who appeared to be highly agitated, Lt. Thomas Gould said.

Suspecting a possible bath salts overdose, Stevens attempted to calm her down and called for an ambulance and personnel from NorthStar Emergency Medical Services to respond, Gould said.

Before they arrived, the woman became delusional and was talking in an irrational manner, he said.

She became paranoid and attempted to flee at which time Stevens attempted to contain her and she became combative, Gould said.

A local man stopped and assisted Stevens in controlling her until she could be restrained, he said.

The woman was rushed to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington, where she was later admitted, he said.

Bath salts is an illegal, synthetic drug that causes people to become violent and out of control, police Chief Ernest Steward Jr. said. The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency is conducting training on bath salts and meth labs for District 3 in Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties this month, he said.

As of Sunday afternoon, Gould said the woman was listed in stable condition at FMH.

Police suspect bath salts from just the way the Wilton woman was acting and the symptoms she was exhibiting, Steward said.

“She was out of control,” he said. “She was assaultive.” The woman was oblivious to her surroundings and anything else, he said.

There is no test to determine if someone has taken bath salts, he said.

While Stevens was trying to take her into protective custody, he received cuts and scrapes on his hands and was treated at the hospital, Steward said.